


Not By Blood

by Triangle_Goddess



Category: Avengers, Danny Phantom, Hawkeye - Fandom
Genre: Brotherly Love, found family shit, good shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:21:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22140247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Triangle_Goddess/pseuds/Triangle_Goddess
Summary: There were a lot of things that Clint thought was weird about the new kid they picked up in Amity Park. Why on earth would a fifteen year old kid, with friends and a family, and school, and normal teenager things want to join the fucking circus of all things?
Comments: 7
Kudos: 260





	Not By Blood

There were a lot of things that Clint thought was weird about the new kid they picked up in Amity Park. Why on earth would a fifteen year old kid, with friends and a family, and school, and normal teenager things want to join the fucking circus of all things? Then again, Clint didn't exactly come from a happy home either.

The kid was running from something, that much was obvious. But Clint knew that it was something he didn't need to pry into.

The kid came in saying he knew how to do the trapeze, and from his first run it was pretty obvious he didn't, but the ringleader wasn't one to turn away a kid in need, so he let Danny in anyway. But until he learned something for the performances, he was stuck helping with the moving and setup. He didn't seem to mind.

He's been with them a week and he's already shown that his scrawny demeanor packed a punch. He was small but he could lift literally twice Clint's weight without even breaking a sweat, and he was like a human air conditioner. When they were travelling through Arizona, half the train car they were in seemed to gravitate towards the kid. Just being around him dropped the temperature by a few degrees. Clint wasn't gonna say he wasn't grateful for it, but the kid definitely wasn't normal.

He hadn't spoken to him yet. Clint preferred to watch from a distance for a while, and it looked like Danny didn't really want to talk about anything anyway. Now, of course he got pulled into conversations about performances, and old friends, and old heartbreaks. But he never gave any details to his life. It was always vague.

But one night, when they had stopped for the night, Clint had found Danny sitting on top of one of the train cars looking at the stars.

"They're beautiful," he told Clint. Clint didn't ask how Danny knew he was behind him. Just from watching him he knew the kid was more perceptive than he let on. He doubted anybody, even Clint, could sneak up on him.

"Sure are," he replied, taking a seat next to Danny. He laid on his back, against the cold metal that he could feel through his jacket, and sighed. Danny was right. The stars were pretty tonight. But Clint wasn't looking at them long. He looked at Danny, who had gained a little bit of visible muscle from all of the lifting and moving. He still needed a sandwich, though.

Danny wasn't wearing a jacket despite how cold it was outside. But he didn't seem bothered by it, either. He seemed content, just starring up at the stars.

"I wanted to be an astronaut," Danny said after a few minutes of just sitting and enjoying the night sky.

"Yeah?" Clint asked. "What changed?"

"Life I guess," Danny said with a shrug.

"I get it," Clint said with a sigh. "The whole running from home thing, I mean."

"How could you tell?"

"Fifteen years old, your whole life ahead of you, and instead of finishing high school you join the fucking circus? Not to mention this is the calmest you've been since you joined us."

Danny let out a small chuckle. "You've been watching me," he told Clint. It wasn't a question.

"Maybe."

Danny sighed, and looked down at him. Even though Clint had been watching him for weeks now, he never noticed how startling his eyes were. They were a bright, icy blue that pierced him in a way Clint had never known before. Even with only the light from the stars, they almost seemed to glow.

Danny stared at him for a long time. So long that Clint started to get a little tired, but he didn't break eye contact with him. He felt that if he did, he'd miss a chance of not only finding out what the kid's deal was, but also missing a chance to genuinely connect with him. This kid was a part of his circus family now. Might as well become his friend or something.

"Why did you join the circus? He asked after what seemed like forever, turning back to the stars.

"Dad was a drunk, and mom didn't have the power to do anything about it," Clint answered. Yeah, it was shitty, and he wished things had been different, but he had made peace a long time ago with it. "My brother and I figured that the best thing to do for us was leave.

"Where's your brother now?

"Dead."

"Oh." Danny was quiet for a moment. "I've got a sister back in Amity. She's really smart. Like, Ivy League smart. Sh wants to be a psychiatrist and help people.

"I hope everything works out for her," Clint said. And he meant it. She was probably running in her own way, too.

"I'll keep you updated."

They sat for a little longer, marveling at the stars some more, before Clint silently got up. He clapped Danny on the shoulder, squeezing it for a moment, before climbing down, and going to bed.

* * *

They had a lot of talks like that. For a few years, they would sit at the top of a train car, looking at the stars, and talking about their past lives, before the circus. Danny, Clint noticed, didn't really open up to anybody but him. And Clint felt like he had a brother again. Sure, a younger one this time, but a brother nonetheless. And if anybody messed around with him, they would have Clint to answer to.

Danny was a star now, in the circus as well. He did trapeze and aerial dancing, with the big silks. He seemed weightless, and at peace when he was high in the air. That's probably why he always sat on the train car when he wanted to be alone, or with Clint. Danny didn't just enjoy being high, he found peace in it. It was closer to the stars.

Danny was nineteen now, and he talked Clint's ear off constantly about his sister, Jazz, acing all of her tests at Harvard, and how his two best friends had left Amity. Clint met them once. Sam and Tucker were good, incredibly smart and perceptive kids. Clint couldn't tell if they got it from Danny, or if Danny got it from them, but they've maintained contact ever since Danny joined the circus.

Since he had joined, and started performing more, he had gained visible muscle. He was very lean, and still didn't look very strong, but Clint knew that he could probably bench press the strongman if he really wanted to. And he was still comfortable with the extreme cold, and his favorite place to eat was Nasty Burger. His favorite music was Dumpty Humpty, and he cried for three hours when NASA said Pluto wasn't a planet. Because somewhere deep inside of Danny, he still wanted to be an astronaut.

Clint loved his little brother with his whole being, and would fight anybody who even looked at Danny wrong.

* * *

One night, while they were parked in the middle of Nowhere, Oklahoma, Danny and Clint went on a hike. And Danny told him something Clint could never forget.

They had stopped by a small bluff overlooking hundreds of trees. It was the dead of night. Danny said he wanted only Clint to know.

"So, five years ago you asked me why I left everything and joined the circus," Danny started, looking at Clint. There was nothing but determination in his face. Clint nodded, a motion for Danny to continue. "My parents are ghost hunters, and they like to invent ghost hunting weapons. Well, one thing they made was a portal. And I got into an accident with it, and...

Danny held out his arms and let the white rings wash over him. It was blinding, so much so that Clint had to cover his eyes. No wonder Danny made him hike all the way out here for something like privacy.

When Clint looked at him again, Danny was standing there, literally glowing. His eyes were a toxic green, and his hair was white. And everything made sense. His fondness for the cold, and heights, and why he's so incredibly strong despite being a string bean. Clint couldn't find any words to say. He just starred at him.

"I told them, he said, his voice echoing slightly, about the accident, and about what it did to me. It turned me half ghost, and they..."

Danny's voice cracked. Clint had only ever see him cry once, about Pluto, but the rest of what Danny was trying to say was obvious. Clint rushed forward and pulled Danny into a bone-crushing hug.

And Danny broke down. He stood there for a long time on the bluff, crying into Clint's shoulder, wondering why his parents didn't love him enough to realize that he was still their son, despite the accident their lab equipment caused. It broke Clint's heart, because he could relate to not having parents who decided that one day they didn't love you. Who decided that one day they were going to take their anger and confusion out on you. Who, in Danny's case, woke up one day deciding to hunt down their own son for something that was out of his control.

They were there for a really long time. But once Danny was done, he turned back to his normal, black haired self and smiled at Clint, who hugged him tight. And Clint felt a familiar feeling, looking into those eyes.

It was like the first time Clint had sat on the train car with Danny all those years ago, and Danny had looked at him with those icy blue eyes. And Clint finally knew the feeling that came with it.

It was kinship.

* * *

Three years later, when Danny was twenty-three and Clint twenty-eight, Fury approached them with a job offer. Clint for his marksman skills, and Danny for his ghost powers. Shortly after, they left the circus and joined S.H.I.E.L.D. on a path to help people in need. And they would do it together, just like they did everything together. Because they were brothers, not by blood, and nothing could ever break a bond like that.

As they walked through the halls, Clint with his bow and Danny with white hair, they smiled at each other, and opened the doors to the observation deck together. Fury turned around to look at them.

"Agents Phantom and Hawkeye reporting for duty, sir."


End file.
